bizarre

We weren't expecting the humble smartphone to stumble into the uncanny valley, but a big chunk of malleable fake human skin has proved that once again you don't need to have imagined something in order for it to subsequently terrify you. Phones that react to squeezing aren't new, but most of the time they don't look like a prop from Silence of the Lambs.

While it certainly doesn’t look like a minivan the Rhino GX, from US Specialty Vehicles, is actually well-suited to carting your kids to soccer practice, family road trips, driving the school carpool, or picking up the weekly groceries. No, it doesn't exactly blend in like ever other SUV on the school run, or indeed like any sort of minivan you've ever seen before. All the same there's a good reason why this military-inspired truck might be the perfect family ride.

Dodge's Charger SRT Hellcat is hardly a shy and retiring car normally, but the 714 hp sedan looks even more striking after being given the armoring treatment for one lucky law enforcement team. Handiwork of Armormax, it leaves the V8 muscle car fully bullet-resistant, not to mention capable of electrocuting people via its door handles.

As unusual trademarks go, scents are some of the rarest, but that hasn't stopped Hasbro from trademarking the distinctive smell of Play-Doh. Little changed since 1956, when Play-Doh was first created, the scent is one of the most distinctive aspects of the modeling dough experience, its makers argue.

Making full-sized models out of regular sized LEGO bricks isn't new, but Porsche has gone a little wild and made a super-sized LEGO set to recreate its 911 Turbo 3.0 model. Found at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, the jumbo 911 is a scaled up replica of the LEGO version you can buy.

Nissan might not be your first thought when it comes to footwear, but you might change your mind when you see the automaker's self-parking slippers. Being shown off at a Japanese inn in Hakone, the unexpectedly smart shoes don't just sit around idle when they're not being worn. Instead, they trundle away and tidy themselves up.

Conclusively answering the question "why can't I have a Faraday cage for my home?" and simultaneously raising the fear "can eating chicken make me a little crazy?" is this, KFC's latest monstrosity. Dubbed the Internet Escape Pod, what may look like an igloo-shaped tent within the awkward embrace of Colonel Sanders is in fact a way to stay offline with your loved ones.

Believe the autonomous concept cars that have proliferated in recent years, and the exterior of your self-driving vehicle will rival the Jumbotron what with all the displays and screens it's covered in. Communicating exactly what a driverless vehicle is intending to do with other road-users and pedestrians is one of the ongoing headaches automakers and researchers are facing, with answers ranging from color-changing hubcaps to laser beams. It's a question that pushed Ford and Virginia Tech Transportation Institute to borrow an old trick from Knight Rider, of all places.

The first time I visited Japan, I knew what I really wanted to try first. Not the sushi, though that turned out to be superb, or the bullet train. No, my boyish excitement was all about the magical robotic toilets. For a button-loving geek who has long thought that the bathroom should have more unexpected warm water surprises, Japan's clever bidets or "washlets" are the Holy Grail.

If there's office contraband then it's probably the humble - but coveted - sticky note pad, but one Samsung spin-off is aiming to give the sticky note a tech upgrade. Mangoslab began life as a Samsung Venture funded start-up courtesy of the South Korean company's internal incubator back in 2016, and its first product is Nemonic, a sticky note printer making its debut at CES 2017. Rather than a pad of notes on your desk, you have a small printer block instead.

Drinking and driving may be a terrible idea, but Ford is looking at giving its cars a shot of tequila - or, at least, what's left over when Jose Cuervo has had its way. The automaker and the drinks company are exploring how bioplastics produced from what's left over of the agave plant distilled to make tequila could result in more environmental friendly components in future vehicles.